Trinidad and Tobago Becomes First Caribbean Nation to Join India’s UPI Network

Trinidad and Tobago's linking up with the UPI network is a historic first as the first Caribbean nation to provide frictionless digital payments through India's BHIM app. This development not only makes it convenient and quicker for residents and visitors to make payments but also fortifies bilateral cooperation in the digital economy space.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Trinidad and Tobago on achieving this milestone, highlighting the increasing global spread of India's digital payment ecosystem. The visit, as an invitee from Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, was crucial to firming up cooperation between the two nations in digital payments and allied technologies.

Wider Cooperation in Digital Solutions

Apart from adoption of UPI, the two countries signed an agreement to augment cooperation on deployment of other India Stack solutions, such as:

• DigiLocker – a digital document wallet,

• e-Sign – facilitating electronic signatures,

• Government e-Marketplace (GeM) – a public procurement platform.

This collaboration is meant to promote digital governance and transactional agility in Trinidad and Tobago based on India's forte in these areas.

UPI’s Global Expansion: The Eight Countries

Trinidad and Tobago now joins a select group of countries that have embraced UPI. The list includes:

This expansion is in line with India's larger plan to internationalize UPI, which aims to promote safe, affordable, and interoperable digital payments across the globe. UPI is positioned to grow into a crucial component of the global digital finance infrastructure as more nations join the network.

An important milestone in financial technology cooperation and digital diplomacy, Trinidad and Tobago's entry into the UPI ecosystem sets the stage for future regional and international adoption.